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The Hollow men (Poem) with explaination

This poem is written  by T.S . Eliot



About Author T.S.Eliot


T.S.Eliote














Thomos .Stearns.Eliot was born in America on 26 September 1888.He was died on 4 January 1965. He was born in America but from 1927 till his death he lived in London.His father was a business man and his mother was a poetess and also a social worker. He was physically weak in his childhood but mentally he was very intelligent.
He settled in Britain. He is well-known for his great poems such as The Waste, Land and Four Quartets. He also wrote plays and contributed critical essays. 
In the start he admitted in an academy for education .He was expert in French and gemany languages. He got education from Howard university and Merton college Oxford.His first poem which published in smith academy was " A fable for feasters" The "love song of J.Alfred Prufrock " The waste land and Four Quarttets" are his notable works.
He also wrote some short stories. He married to Vivienne Hai-gh Wood in 1915.His wife was ill. She suffered many diseases. So their marriage life was not so happy. He wrote a play on this topic .A film was also produced 
.I'ts name was tom and Viv in 1994. He got many awards as Noble prize in literature and Order of merit.He was a great poet of 20th century. He was also a playwriter ,social critics and essay writer. He was died on 4 January 1965. 

The Hollow men (Poem)                                                               

We are the hollow men 
We are the stuffed men 
Leaning together 
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! 
Our dried voices, when 
We whisper together 
Are quiet and meaningless 
As wind in dry grass 
Or rats' feet over broken glass 
In our dry cellar 
Shape without form, shade without colour, 
Paralysed force, gesture without motion; 
 Those who have crossed 
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom 
Remember us—if at all—not as lost 
Violent souls, but only 
As the hollow men 
The stuffed men.

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams,
 In death's dream kingdom,
 These do not appear,
There, the eyes are,
 Sunlight on a broken column,
There, is a tree swinging And voices are,
 In the wind's singing,
More distant and more solemn,
 Than a fading star.
 Let me be no nearer ,
In death's dream kingdom,
Let me also wear,
Such deliberate disguises,
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves,,
 In a field,
 Behaving as the wind behaves,
 No nearer,—
 Not that final meeting
 In the twilight kingdom,
 III This is the dead land,
 This is cactus land ,
Here the stone images ,
 Are raised, here they receive,
The supplication of a dead man's hand,
 Under the twinkle of a fading star. 
 Is it like this,
In death's other kingdom,
 Waking alone,
 At the hour when we are ,
Trembling with tenderness ,
Lips that would kiss ,
Form prayers to broken stone.
 IV The eyes are not here,
There are no eyes here,
In this valley of dying stars,
In this hollow valley,
 This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms,
 In this last of meeting places ,
We grope together ,
And avoid speech.
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river ,
 Sightless, unless ,
The eyes reappear ,
As the perpetual star,
 Multifoliate rose,
Of death's twilight kingdom ,
The hope only,
 Of empty men. 
  Here we go round the prickly pear,
 Prickly pear prickly pear ,
Here we go round the prickly pear,
 At five o'clock in the morning. 
Between the idea,
 And the reality ,
Between the motion,
And the act ,
Falls the Shadow ,
For Thine is the Kingdom ,
 Between the conception 
And the creation ,
Between the emotion ,
And the response,
 Falls the Shadow,
 Life is very long,
Between the desire,
And the spasm,
Between the potency,
And the existence,
Between the essence ,
And the descent ,
Falls the Shadow,
For Thine is the Kingdom,
 For Thine is,
Life is,
 For Thine is the,
 This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
 This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but a whimper.

 Explaination of poem "The Hollow men" 

The poet is of the view that we are soulless. Our actions and deeds are hollow. Our efferts are vain like running of rats or rustling of grass. We have formless shapes. We do not have the real spirit and enthusiasm. The poem is a lamenting note on modern man's soulless life. In this poem, the poet condemns the spiritual emptiness of modem man.
 He says that we are hollow, empty men. We lack passion and enthusiasm. Our efforts are fruitless like the running of rats or rustling grass.. We have formless shapes. We are just hollow and stuffed men. Almighty God created everything for man. He created man to rule over this world. Man is sent in this world to get knowledge, about God and universe, to pray to God and to serve the human beings. 
If man does not recognize himself, he cannot fulfill the object of his creation. Life without knowledge, wisdom and love is worthless. In these lines,, the poet points out such type of deficiencies. The poet says tha 'we do not have knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, we are worthless men. We are stuffed men like puppets or dolls. We try to follow one another. We do not have knowledge and wisdom to lead others. Alas! We do not have ability to listen to realities of life. We have nothing to say because we know gothing.
 That is why our speech, is no more than the voices made by the grass or the rats. The poet means to say that having no knowledge and wisdom we have no ability to lead others. We have no ability to listen to the good things and to convey valuable thoughts. In this poem, the poet condemns the' jitual emptiness of modem man. He says that we fre hollow, empty men. We lack passion and erlthusiasm. 
Our efforts are fruitless like the running f rats or rustling grass. We have formless shapes, are just hollow and stuffed men.  We have no form and no colour. We have force but we do not know how to male its best use. Therefore, we have paralysed force. We do not know anything good. We do not know how to learn and how to convey,The poet condemns the spiritual emptiness of modern man. He says that we are pollow, empty men. We lack passion and enthusiasm: Our efforts are fruitless like the running of rats or rustling grass. We have formless shapes. We are just hollow and stuffed men. 
The poet talks the dead persons. He also talks about man's ignorance and dullness. . The poet says that those who have already departed from this life do not know of our being frustrated or not. We seem to be only puppets made of straw. We have no ambition in our life. We are not anxious to get something. We have no goals to reach there. We are blind to the truth.We like to follow others. We do not like to get knowledge and to become a guiding star for Other people. 
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Post a Comment

  1. I found this explanation as the most accurate and comprehensive one of all others at Google!!!

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  2. Wow....amazing...more accurate then other websites at google...thanku☺

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  3. This explanation is really good and very easy.

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  4. Nice explanation, but seceral lines have been repeated multiple times which makes it abit dull..

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  5. there is no any solution of the issues we faced in this poem

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  6. this explanation is not sufficient .its very short

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